“No. I had no idea until I was sixteen. My ears look human and I have no bloodborne Talent. As far as I could tell growing up, there was no difference between me and the princes.” He takes another deep breath. “As a child, I was taught to hate the Elves and everything they stood for. I truly believed Rodrick was making the world a better place. I was wholly committed to his mission and was training to be a Healer on the front lines.”
Cygnus’s gaze drifts toward the darkness.
“But on my sixteenth name day, Ragglestaff sat me down and told me about my mother. I was horrified. I went all the way to Belshire in Sontaag trying to escape it, like running away fromhimwould change anything. But school is where I actuallymetElves—refugees who had made a home in Sontaag—and began learning just how much I’d been misled. Verdin tried to destroy all records of Evermore, but the libraries in Sontaag and Ursandor never burned; there’s thousands of years of recorded history showing humans and Elves coexisting in peace. There was never any threat of Elven domination. There was no secret council of magic wielders trying to take over the world. The story was entirely fabricated by Verdin to justify his conquest. Without Verdish imperialism, we’d still have peace in the Midlands today.”
“It took you sixteen years to put that together?” I can’t keep the judgment out of my voice.
“I know. Believe me, I’m ashamed.” Cygnus hesitates. “But we don’t know what we don’t know, do we? I had no reason to question my worldview.”
I think of Mother and how much she has withheld from me—an ever-lengthening list. Does she know about Everwillows? Does she know King Verdin worked with an Elf? Did she know Cygnus’s mother? I feel sick.
“When I came back from school, I saw everything differently,” Cygnus continues. “I couldn’t look at anyone thesame way. The people who raised me, people I thought were brothers and friends, they were all complicit in the empire’s crimes.Iwas complicit. And I just becamesoangryallthe time. Istillam.”
He closes his eyes and then starts shaking softly. “While I was relearning my worldview and becoming a Healer, Finn was training to be his father’s perfect weapon. When I completed my schooling and returned to Crown City, I realized I no longer had anything in common with my best friend. Maybe I never did.”
As this painful thought seeps through me, he goes on.
“I changed career course right away. I told the Crown I wasn’t interested in the military anymore and convinced the queen to appoint me to the royal hospital instead. At that point, our facilities were almost laughably inadequate. The post was a huge step back in prestige. People thought I was insane. But I didn’t care. I couldn’t stomach supporting the expansion, and I was desperate to actually help people. I stayed on the Thornes’ good side, and gradually, I used my influence to divert more resources to the hospital. We opened up more and more beds to the public, until it became what it is today.”
I try to absorb this. “So, that’s what the hospital is to you? Penance?”
“It’s my chance to make the world just a little bit better,” he says fiercely. “I can’t undo who I was for those years. I can’t get back lost time. All I can do is be better tomorrow, and the day after. I can try. That’s all any of us can do.”
My chest tightens against the truth in his words.
“After I came back”—Cygnus shakes his head—“I can’t even describe how lonely I have been. I can’t trust anyone. Even when people are kind to me, I’ll be wondering deep down if they’d hate me if they found out the truth.”
I’m all too familiar with the feeling.
I’m struck by the same sense I had when I found Dante in the garden: overwhelmed with empathy for someone I recognize myself in.
“All my life, there’s only been one thing I could rely on to make me feel better. It might sound strange, but it’s studying. That’s what I do best. It’s the only thing I’mreallygood at. So, when I was feeling terrible, I decided to do something about it. I dug into the royal archives and searched for anything I could find about Elven history, which was not much. I started asking questions, and subtly interviewing patients, and eventually I figured out what’sreallyhappening in Ursandor.”
Chills rise as I recall what Finn told me in the garden. I need Cygnus’s confirmation to fully believe it. “Which is what, exactly?”
“They’re helping the Elves raise an army.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, feeling like my skin is tightening. My ribs threaten to compress my lungs, and a dark pit has formed in my gut, an emerging black hole of dread. I think of the plague and Ragglestaff’s scribbles ofPAIN. SO MUCH PAIN.If the Elves are working with Ursandor, does that mean they are part of spreading it? Is that the price of regaining our freedom? Would the innocent become collateral damage?
Cygnus explains, “Elves have been centralizing in Ursandor foryearsnow, streaming in from all over the Midlands. From Sontaag and Dasken and Sulnik. Even people like us, who’ve been hiding in Verdinae. They’re all coming to fight for Evermore.”
I feel like I’m choking on conflicting emotions. “Why…why is Ursandor getting involved?”
“Because Rodrick is winning,” Cygnus says simply, his voice hard. “He wants to finish what Verdin started, and he’s not far from achieving it. Sulnik’s almost completely under his thumb. Dasken has all but surrendered their sovereignty. Sontaag is justa loose republic—all the free cities are individually wealthy, but their coordination is piss-poor. In less than a year, Verdinae’s taken athirdof their territory. They’re not going to hold out much longer. And then it’s just Ursandor against the rest of the Midlands.”
“What are they waiting for?” I ask, still trying to make sense of this. “Why don’t the Elves strike while Rodrick’s attention is diverted?”
“That’s the plan: attack when Verdinae is weakest. But all the stars have to align, and there’s a lot of moving pieces. Mainly, they’ve got to find the Evermoreans first.”
My knees wobble. The world pitches—
“What did you just say?”
“The Evermoreans,” he repeats. “The Elves of Evermore.”
“I know what it means!” I shout. “The Evermoreans are gone.”
Cygnus just blinks. “The Evermoreans aren’t gone,” he says. “They’ve been under your feet this whole time.”
